HANDBALL – BAHRAIN have named a high-calibre 25-player senior men’s handball national team that will begin training later this weekend for their participation in the fourth GCC Games.
The highly anticipated multi-sport event is set to be held in Doha, Qatar, from May 11 to 22 with delegations representing all six GCC nations in the fray.
Handball will be one of 20 sports in the meeting. The others are athletics, table tennis, squash, padel, fencing, wrestling, boxing, taekwondo, karate, swimming, billiards, snooker, basketball, 3x3 basketball, shooting, archery, volleyball, equestrian, and bowling.
The kingdom’s squad is set to be spearheaded by veteran superstars Hussain Al Sayyad, Mohammed Abdulhussain, and Mohammed Habib Ahmed, while it will also boast several of Bahrain’s supremely talented youngsters, including Mohammed Habib Nasser, Hasan Madan, Jassim Khamis, Ahmed Redha, Salman Alshowaikh, Ali Alasheeri, and Qassim Qambar, amongst others.
The rest of the roster named by national team head coach Robert Hedin comprises Mohammed Hameed, Ali Mahmood, Ahmed Jalal, Hussain Mahfoudh, Sayed Ali Basem, Jaafar Al Fursan, Ali Redha, Abdulla Abdulkarim, Hesham Ahmed, Mohammed Shamlooh, Abu Dhar Jaafar, Ahmed Taleb, Mahdi Jaafar, Ahmed Eid, and Mahmood Jaleel.
The national team list was announced yesterday by the Bahrain Handball Federation (BHF).
The Bahrainis are scheduled to begin their preparations on Saturday under the supervision of Hedin and his staff at the BHF Arena in Um Al Hassam Sports Complex.
Bahrain are expected to be amongst the leading contenders in handball at the fourth GCC Games. They have appeared on the podium in each of the three previous editions, headlined by their title-winning run in the inaugural GCC Games hosted by the kingdom in 2011. They then finished as silver-medallists in 2015 in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, as well as in 2022 in Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Competition will be held at 10 venues across the Qatari capital, including at Aspire Dome, Qatar Sports Club (SC), Women’s Sports Hall, Lusail Shooting Range, Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex, Qatar Billiards and Snooker Hall, Al Gharafa SC, Qatar Bowling Federation Hall, Al Arabi SC, and Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club.
Bahrain’s senior men’s handball national team will be looking to continue their recent sensational form, which have included historic title triumphs in two major international competitions.
In January earlier this year, the Bahrainis claimed their first-ever gold medals in the Asian Men’s Handball Championship, held in Kuwait City in its 22nd edition. They had previously finished the continental tournament as silver-medallists five times in the past and had never captured the crown – until this year.
Along with their championship, Bahrain also booked their berth in the 30th IHF Men’s Handball World Championship, to be held in Germany from January 13 to 29 next year.
Meanwhile, to add to their Asian success, the nationals had also struck gold for the first time ever in the Islamic Solidarity Games, which held its 2025 edition in Riyadh, Saudi, in November of last year.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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